Monster Hunter Rise belongs in any list of Top 5 Switch games. It’s quintessential, demonstrating just what can be achieved on the hybrid Nintendo system remarkably well. From its visuals to its performance, Rise is everything Nintendo fans could have asked for and many were most likely happy with their lot. With over 10 million in sales, it would have been understandable if Capcom declared Rise to be its lot too.
Instead, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak has been released a mere 15 months later. In what some have labelled DLC, an expansion, or even a cash grab, Sunbreak offers more than 30 hours’ worth of gameplay featuring new mechanics, greater challenges, and a bevy of new locales and monsters. It has all the makings of a game in its own right — in some ways it should do, as it comes with a hefty price tag of £35.99.
Starting Sunbreak for the first time requires that you’ve already completed a very large portion of the base game. In order to do so, you’ll have had to put a considerable number of hours in. That in itself is an indicator as to whether this Expansion is for you or not. For this reviewer, I’d already played in excess of 100 hours, and I was still chomping at the bit for more which made Sunbreak an exciting proposition.
The early hours of Sunbreak — see what I did there — tempered my expectations slightly. There isn’t too much new content to report, and, aside from the hub world, there’s little else to get the blood pumping. If anything, it’s all a little anti-climactic. Yes, you are fighting these big ol’ monsters, but some you’ve already fought before in these locales you’ve already visited.
Thankfully, it isn’t too long before you are in amongst all that new content and getting your fill of monster hunting once more. Accompanied by several new characters, you embark on a series of single-player hunts to save the Kingdom from terror and destruction. There are three new monsters, known as ‘The Three Lords’, including the elder dragon, Malzeno, Garangolm, and Lunagron. They offer quite the challenge and make those Master Rank quests thoroughly enjoyable. Returning monsters from other games in the series also keeps things fresh.
The same can be said for the new locales, with vastly different vibes emanating from each. Filtering in these alongside the base game locations makes this a rather compelling package, albeit with a distinct feeling of familiarity that the expansion struggles to shake. For me, this is to the benefit of the expansion — I wanted more of the same, but others may have been hoping for a bit more from it.
One element of Monster Hunter Rise that the internet was awash with complaints about was the difficulty. The Sunbreak expansion really tests your mettle against the roster of monsters, and rarely lets up as you journey through the various missions to become the master hunter. There will still be some that say it could be more challenging, but there’s an unpredictability to the way the monsters behave that makes it more than enough for the average player.
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak £35.99
Summary
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is fresh but familiar, offering plenty of opportunity to hone your hunting skills against new, more challenging monsters in delightfully detailed locations. It’s the very best way to hunt monsters on the Switch.